Review: Xara Xtreme 4 graphics software

This latest version of Xara’s Xtreme graphics software builds on a solid foundation, adding some extra features while still remaining very responsive.

There are two versions, with the Pro (£127) including features such as support for Microsoft’s XPS format, Pantone colours and multi-core processing.

Both versions are fast and come with nifty new features. For example, you can drag the image in our screenshot around in real time, turn it through 180° and you’ll see the mirror image on the back.

There’s also a full photo editor, with tools for tweaks such as red-eye removal and support for panoramic photos.

Another new add-on is the ability to create HTML pages directly from your design. You can add links to objects on the page, and use the naming functions to fill in extra attributes. Layers can be translated to mouse-over movements, too.

And you’re not stuck with just basic web fonts – if you want a headline to look just as it does in Xtreme, just group it and it’ll be exported as a graphic instead of HTML text. It’s not perfect, but it does mean you can make a great-looking page with rollovers or pop-ups very easily, and no Javascript expertise.

One criticism is that the interface is becoming a little fiddly, with the tools down the left and the options for them at the top of the screen, as well as a toolbar that changes depending on which tool is selected. Some users will prefer the expanding and collapsing palettes found in, say, Dreamweaver.

However, Xara Xtreme remains an extremely capable package, and it really is amazingly fast, with live previews of just about everything. Whether you want to create logos, marketing leaflets or even a graphics-intensive website, Xtreme is a tool you really should have in your armoury.

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